About two dozen cancer patients, survivors and advocates from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) rallied at the Capitol today in support of restoring funding for comprehensive tobacco education to $21 million annually. The event was rescheduled due to a snow storm earlier this month.
“When you consider the toll that cancer takes each year in Maryland, we must ensure policies are in place that will begin to minimize the impact of this disease,” said Jacqueline Beale, Maryland’s volunteer co-lead ambassador for ACS CAN. “Ensuring proper funding is in place to allow for comprehensive tobacco education will ensure a future with fewer people being diagnosed with cancer.”
ACS CAN is supporting House Bill 703, which is sponsored by State Delegate Samuel Rosenberg, and Senate Bill 113 sponsored by Senator Nathaniel McFadden, calling for an annual allocation of $21 million for a comprehensive state tobacco prevention and cessation program. The program is currently budgeted at $10.5 million annually, which is about 5 percent of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for the program.
Studies have shown that establishing comprehensive tobacco control programs that are consistent with CDC guidelines help to reduce the death, disease, disability and other harms caused by smoking and other tobacco use. They also save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs.
ACS CAN also is supporting the Governor’s budget request of $13.2 million for the state breast and cervical cancer screening program. Approximately 5,470 breast and cervical cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in Maryland this year alone.
During the opening session of the annual ACS CAN Day at the Capitol event, Maryland Delegate Charles Barkley (District 39) was presented with the organization’s Distinguished Advocacy Award, in recognition of his leadership in helping maintain smoke-free workplaces in the state.
Maryland is projected to have 31,820 new cancer cases diagnosed during 2017 and 10,650 are projected to die from the disease. Additionally, there are more than 254,000 Marylanders alive today who have survived a cancer diagnosis.
About ACS CAN
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit fightcancer.org.
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